Before writing HITN, I was not aware that almost all insurance policies have a felony clause in them. The felony clause is an exclusionary loophole that means life insurance companies do not have to pay out when the insured dies while in the process of committing a felony.

As Johnny Wiemer explains to Ray Manning in the book: "You rob a bank and the security guard shoots you on the way out, your wife's not collecting on the policy."